Wages for retail workers have decreased over the past three decades. It’s not for lack of money. In July 2025 alone, U.S. retail and food services sales reached over $726 billion. While CEOs and retail higher-ups rake in millions, the workers who make it all possible struggle to keep up with rising costs.

Unionizing your retail workplace can help push for much needed wage raises, protect against inconsistent scheduling and wage theft, and grant you and your co-workers collective bargaining power when advocating for your rights as a worker.

Talk to your retail co-workers

Unionizing begins with getting to know your co-workers. Chances are you aren’t the only one in your retail workplace with concerns or issues regarding your work environment.

Start low stakes conversations to get to know your co-workers. Ask about what issues are affecting them in and out of the workplace and bring up your own workplace gripes. They may already be exhibiting interest in pushing for safer conditions, or they may have a certain level of allegiance to upper management or the company. Either way, this is good information to have!

Don’t just try to turn every conversation into an organizing conversation right away, though: Build community with your co-workers to organically gauge common workplace issues and see which co-workers have skills that would be useful to a union organizing campaign or which co-workers may pose a threat to union building efforts.

Build a retail organizing committee

Create a small, close, and trusted group of fellow workers (often called an “organizing committee”) to chart your workplace: record what issues your co-workers are focused on, note who does or does not seem interested in unionizing, and make a plan to win your demands and what to do if your bosses retaliate (which they likely will try, legally or illegally).

It is crucial at this stage to educate yourself and others on the labor laws in your state and document any violations of these laws in your workplace. After you and your organizing committee have developed a list of demands and prepared for possible retaliation, it’s time to take necessary action to win your demands. Who has the power to make the workplace changes you’re looking for? What is the most effective way to convey these needs? These are questions with answers that may be specific to your workplace and state.

Fighting anti-union retaliation in your retail workplace

When unionizing your retail workplace, management will likely retaliate. Due to the undeniably weak labor laws in the U.S., managers and corporations openly and shamelessly use illegal union busting tactics.

The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) is supposed to protect employees’ rights to unionize and ensure the illegality of employer interference; however, labor organizers have criticized many multi-billion dollar retail corporations like Starbucks, Amazon and Trader Joe’s for anti-union tactics. These can look like anything, like bribing workers to reject the union, terminating the employment of union activists and supporters, and threatening and following through on closing unionized facilities.

These companies and many others have also been caught firing managers who were not deemed anti-union enough, utilizing employee data surveys and covert surveillance to gather data on possible union activity, and even partnering with entire “union avoidance” law firms in an attempt to work around the rights of employees. Amazon alone spent $4.3 million in 2021 on anti-union consultants, holding mandatory meetings where employees endured sitting through anti-union propaganda in the run-up to union elections! Although Amazon has received pushback legally and publicly for some of those cases, these types of insidious union busting tactics are being used by employers and corporations all over the country.

Wage theft and the targeting of retail workers

Retail workers are especially affected by wage theft. This includes stolen tips, illegal paycheck deductions, unpaid overtime, withholding paychecks and making employees work through breaks. As recently as 2017, researchers calculated that employers steal at least $15 billion from workers annually simply by paying less than the minimum wage.

Unfortunately, when it comes to filing a complaint against your employer for violations of your rights as a worker, the options are somewhat becoming more difficult to achieve. With the Trump administration’s continuous interference with the power of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) along with other agencies such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), a lot of their ability to make rulings has been stripped away.

However, no administration can take away our right to organize on the job: as Jennifer Abruzzo, the recently dismissed general counsel of the NLRB, said in January, if the NLRB doesn’t fulfill its duty to defend workers’ rights, “I expect that workers with assistance from their advocates will take matters into their own hands in order to get the well-deserved dignity and respect in the workplace, as well as a fair share of the significant value they add to their employers’ operations.”

Recent retail workplace organizing wins

In 2024, 400 Macy’s employees across three stores unionized with the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), which represents over 50,000 U.S. workers. They fought for and won better safety conditions and higher pay, including the highest signing bonus in the country. A majority of Macy’s workers are women and people of color who had been decades-long loyal employees, but the company didn’t recognize their worth until workers made them.

In March 2025, three Barnes & Noble stores across New York City announced the signing of their first union contracts, establishing higher standards for safety, wages, and healthcare for their union members. These union contracts collectively cover over 200 workers, including the flagship Union Square location which is below the corporate headquarters. Another 10,000 Kroger workers struck in February, and now they’re winning amazing bargaining demands. Amazon workers all over the world have been striking and pushing back against the company’s unfair labor practices and winning small but powerful union elections from Italy to Canada to Staten Island.

First steps to build a retail union

The fight for adequate representation is hard, but never impossible, and having a strong union behind you for support when advocating yourself is often crucial when up against management and corporate greed. Reach out to an EWOC organizer to unionize your workplace, and start the fight for your rights today!